


to be young and loved

by oakleaf_bearer



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, Kinda, M/M, mag 188 spoilers, return of jealous martin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakleaf_bearer/pseuds/oakleaf_bearer
Summary: "Martin..." Jon said slowly."Don't you dare ask if I was jealous, you already know I was."Jon laughed. "That's not what I was going to say, but now that you bring it up..."-mag 188 got me thinking about jealous martin bc i love him
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 54
Kudos: 339





	to be young and loved

**Author's Note:**

> ty to iez, my wonderful beta reader

"So, Helen."

"What about her?" 

"I don't know. Did you ever, you know, think about her? The original one, I mean." 

Jon frowned. "Well, yes. Quite a bit, actually. She did sort of die in front of me, that was a lot to live with."

Martin gripped the straps of his bag a little tighter. "Yeah, but aside from your guilt spiral."

He laughed lightly. "Guilt spiral is a very good way of putting it, I suppose. That was sort of the point. And to answer the question I think you're getting at, yes and no."

"I'm not asking anything. And you know that isn't an answer." 

"I know, I'm sorry. To be honest, did I ever think we could've been friends? Yes. I barely knew her, but I still liked her." 

"Hmm." Martin stared at the horizon.

Jon looked up at him, a slow smile spreading across his face. Martin was fidgeting with his bag in the same way he had when they had passed through Oliver's domain; not quite nervous, just pent up. He had something he wanted to say. 

"Martin..." Jon said slowly. 

"Don't you dare ask if I was jealous, you already know I was."

Jon laughed. "That's not what I was going to say, but now that you bring it up..."

Martin groaned frustratedly. "What do you want me say, Jon? You were pulling away from us all, all of your _friends_ , the people that cared about you, and then some stranger comes swanning into the archives and suddenly you're all about trust? What's with that? I was doing so much to keep the archives from falling apart and you're all 'Martin wants to kill me', but when Helen shows up? Then you're all gung-ho and ready to trust again!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Jon took his hand. "I really am. I wasn't in the best place back then, it was bad. Really bad. I should have trusted you." 

Martin sighed. "It's okay. It's in the past, it's hardly the worst thing that's ever happened. And you're a terrible liar, so at least now I'll have some warning for when you decide to elope with the nearest avatar. I doubt you'd be able to keep that a secret." 

Jon chuckled, leaning bodily against Martin. "I promise I won't run off. To be completely honest with you, I doubt I'm going to meet anyone who even comes close to you." 

"You say that now."

"I say that always." 

Martin wrapped an arm around Jon's shoulders. "Alright. I'm sorry I got worked up." 

"It's fine. So long as you don't make a habit of thinking I'm secretly in love with everyone else." 

Martin didn't meet his eyes. He tensed against him slightly, arm going ridged. Jon gazed at him, realisation slowly setting in. 

"Martin, how often do you think that?"

Silence. 

"Martin-"

"I don't know! I used to think maybe you and Tim were secretly a thing, he was never subtle about flirting with you, but then when he found out I liked you he said 'go get 'em tiger' so that really confused me."

"Tim, Oliver Banks, Helen Richardson." Jon counted off on his fingers. "Anyone else?"

Martin fidgeted. "Tim may have once implied that you and Basira were a thing."

"Basira? Martin, she's-"

"Yeah, well, I didn't know her back then. Or Melanie."

"Melanie as well? Martin, Melanie is the most lesbian lesbian I've ever met." Jon laughed. "And I went to Oxford." 

"I thought it was just an aesthetic!" 

"She has a nose ring!"

"Plenty of bi or pan girls have nose rings!" 

Jon snorted, burying his face in Martin's shoulder. "You're unbelievable."

Martin wrapped both arms around him now, pulling him into a tight embrace. "It's not my fault you're a catch. Anyone would want some."

Jon wriggled out of his grip enough to look him in the face. "I'm a catch? Martin, I'm a habitual insomniac who keeps picking fights with things that leave marks. You're soft and loving and so unfairly handsome. If either of us is a catch, it's you." 

"Disagree. You're adorable and smart, you know literally everything, and the scars are actually hot by the way. I'm just," He shrugged. "I'm not that remarkable." 

"Remarkable? Martin, you're far beyond that. Do you honestly think I don't see you as the most brilliant man I've ever met?" 

Martin shrugged, looking sheepish. "Well, you're the Archivist. You can see everything, isn't there someone out there who you'd rather be with?"

Jon frowned. "You're asking if, given the option, I would use my all seeing super powers to scour the globe and find my scientific soulmate." 

"Sort of?"

"That's not how relationships work. Mutual trust and affection isn't something that can be manufactured. It's born from shared experiences, joint connections, mutual care. Is there, theoretically, someone who's interests align more with my own? Absolutely. Dozens. But I don't want them. I don't know how well any of them would've handled me at my worst, or would've stood up to Prentiss as well as you did, or which of them would've stuck around after I ended the world. Theories and hypotheticals are all well and good but they completely ignore the necessity of actual connection." He brushed a strand of hair away from Martin's face. "I love you. Not because you're here now, but because you've always been here. If you want to be jealous, be jealous of the version of you that sat in document storage and told me that you'd worked out an effective way of removing the worms with a corkscrew. That's the first version that properly made me stop and think." 

He finished his tirade and trailed off, awkwardly staring up at Martin. 

It was a long minute before Martin spoke again. "Really?"

"What?"

"Document storage, that was the first moment you realised you liked me?" Martin asked, incredulously. 

"I realised I trusted you." Jon corrected. "I didn't realise I liked you until shortly before the Unknowing." 

"You're unbelievable."

"Suspend your disbelief for a moment and believe one thing for me?"

"What?" 

"I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in 45 minutes while waiting for my livestream to start 
> 
> come find me [on insta](https://www.instagram.com/statement_boo_gins/) or [on tumblr](https://oakleaf--bearer.tumblr.com/)   
> i take prompts/asks/dms on both!


End file.
